Leader of Canadian Political Party Reports on Israel’s Achievements

October 21, 1954

MONTREAL (Oct. 20)

Highest praise for the “miracles” accomplished by the State and people of Israel has been voiced by Solen Low, leader of the Social Credit Party in the House of Commons, following a recent visit to the Jewish State. Until recently certain leaders of the Social Credit Party were outspoken opponents of Zionism and even followed an anti-Semitie line.

Mr. Low, who describes the impact of his 11-day visit as “the thrill of a lifetime,” uses the term “miracle” several times to describe various aspects of Israeli achievement, in an article written for the Canadian Jewish Chronicle. Telling of the enthusiasm he encountered among a group of young Canadians at a kibbutz at Urim in the northern Negev, the Social Credit chief said:

“I say it is a miracle how Israel has created in so short a time out of artisans, merchants, doctors, lawyers, engineers and housewives a people of the soil.” He also noted that “it is a little short of a miracle what has been accomplished already in the Negev.” Declaring that “it is one of the miracles of this modern age the way in which Israel, in six short years, has transferred a people who had never known what agricultural life and physical toil meant, into a people of the soil,” Mr. Low also said: “Given the chance they deserve, I am sure they will develop and build a great little nation that will make a worthwhile contribution to the world.”